Amritsar - City of Gold

As I ticked another place of my bucket list, I choose to visit Amritsar in 4th week of August. At the time of planning there was no issue, booked tickets from Goibibo and stay at AirBnB. I choose AirBnB as I wanted to experience home stay. I did the planning of what to visit and where to go. When I reached Amritsar, riot broke out in the city which didn't affect in any way for my stay.

Day 1: Amritsar

I landed in the morning and was picked up by taxi arranged along with stay arrangements. I already had list of things I needed to do before my trip. First on my list is to see the places in the city, Gobindgarh Fort, Golden temple, and Jallianwala Bagh.  Unfortunately, due to crisis of MSG verdict the place was on complete lock down. When I landed, the mobile service was suspended that meant no data or voice service available. I managed to locate the taxi driver at the airport. When I reached the the house hosted by Hargun, I was given a room that was attached to the main house. Hargun is staying with her husband at the house located a little away from the city and is very cheerful lady. She was very welcoming and hosted me like a family member. The room had balcony and had garden view from the bedroom. 

I took the taxi back to city to enjoy the Amritsari food. I am not great fan for 5 star food. I felt if I need to taste the authentic food I need to get it from the restaurant which had the authentic feeling. I told the driver to take me to local dhaba. He took me to a restaurant next to bus stand. Mind it, its not about having clean place, its about the taste of food. I ordered for a Chole Kulcha. 

You got to believe me, this was the best Kulcha that I had in my life. Awesome taste and was filling. How can I end the meal without the lassi. I had heard a lot about the Gian Chand Lassi Wale which I wanted to visit. Driver now drove to the place for me to get the taste of the first glass of lassi in Amritsar. Tastiest Lassi I had till now. As they say there is something in the waters of Amritsar that makes the food the tastiest. 

Now my next stop was in the "Golden Temple". I was dropped off at a distance from the temple as there was no parking space in the vicinity. Now you might be thinking how is she managing communicating with taxi drive. Key is communication to any problem, I had told him to be near the place where he dropped me and not change the location. Few things to take care when you are in "Golden Temple". Both genders need to cover their head. Mostly in north the ladies cover their head with shawl or dupatta or saree pallu. Being from south of India I am not used to this culture. But I respect the sentiments and decided to wear suit. When I reached the main door of the temple, I observed people washing their legs in a small arena which contained water. Observing people helps you to follow the crowd. There was huge box kept next to the water. Men could pick small scarfs to tie to their head to cover their head. I covered my head with the dupatta and entered the temple. I was struck at the scene before me. I did not have words to describe my thoughts. I just stared at the mesmerizing view and forgot when the dupatta fell from my head. Next thing I felt was a soft bang on my head 😆. I did not know whether to laugh or cry at this gesture. One of the uncles told me to wear the dupatta again on my head. I wore that and continued walking to the temple. When I told this to few of friends they told even they experienced this. I am not the only one 😁

 

The temple formed a scenic beauty by reflecting itself on the pond which overlooked from the temple. Even with the crisis, the temple was brimming with enthusiastic devotees singing in praise of Guru Nanak. It was day of celebration. I proceeded towards the temple door which lead me inside the temple. I passed by devotees singing and taking small steps, their face showed the hope and fulfillment. I went ahead and finished the entire temple tour in a hour or two. I came out and took the prasad offered by the temple authorities. It's said take half and return half back as part of sharing concept. I came to sit right in front of the temple and taking in the peaceful night. I felt sense of fulfillment. Golden temple has been long awaited in my list. 

I returned back to the taxi. He suggested me to eat at a restaurant. I did try the Punjabi thali which was nice in the taste and quality. I got back to home where I was staying. I freshened up and retired early to bed.

Day 2: Gobindgarh Fort and Wagah Border

I freshened up and took the same taxi to visit the Gobindgarh Fort. I had breakfast on the way.  It's a historic fort located in the center of the city of Amritsar. There is a Sher e Punjab which is a 7D paid show which you can watch if interested, I decided to give it a skip and take walk inside the fort. You can also see the Toshakhana which is a coin museum and also museum which has statues of war heroes. The entire structure took me an hour to explore and come out. It was post lunch time when I was out of the fort. 

   

I decided to proceed to Wagah Border and on the way to stop for lunch. Driver stopped at a road side dhaba for lunch. It was my turn to enjoy Punjabi food again. We reached the border at around 3 pm for the Beating Retreat Ceremony. The parade started 5:15 PM and lasted for about 45 minutes. As it is crowded, I was told to arrive at least an hour before the ceremony. From the moment the car was parked, sellers approached me with Indian flags and hats. To which I kept on saying "No" and in the end purchased a hat to protect myself from the scorching heat. When I walked further, I was approached by the auto rickshaw, who wanted to drop me to the main entrance. I decided to take the 1 km walk in the super hot desert-like heat. 

I could see people rushing to form the lines when I reached the main gate. As I slowly proceeded further, I saw people rushing towards the parade ground. It looked like a mad rush. When I reached the venue where the parade was going to commence, I saw a stadium like seating. I got a seat near to the main parade but place was already full. The place had people from villages who looked like "Scene from mother India", singing "Mere Desh ki Dharthi" & "Mere Rang de Basanti". Their enthusiastic faces made others also enjoy the event even more. 

This ceremony takes place every evening before sunset at the Wagah border. The ceremony is hosted by an Army represented, whose voice was as strong as his personality. He was able to keep the crowd on toes enjoying every moment. He kept the crowd engaged with patriotic songs from movies and our freedom fighters. The crowd includes both Indian and Foreigners. I could see people from remote villagers lining up in the front railing just to get closer to the event. They looked and sounded so enthusiastic that their fierce patriotism bought few happy tears in my eyes. Not sure how many of you have ever felt the goose bumps while hearing the National Anthem. I have always felt it when I have heard it. And looking at everyone singing and showing the emotions with smiles, shouts of "Vande Matharam" and "Bharath Mathaki Jai" slogans, bought  tears in eyes making me a Proud Indian. The ceremony had not yet begun, the host called few girls and ladies from the crowd to join the main parade path to hold the flag. I saw the crowd going crazy at this as everyone wanted to be part of this event. I saw more than 30 ladies, girls and kids lined up to perform this act as directed by the Host. 

As the beating parade started, the army men and women lined up in perfect pair, and each displayed Patriotic feeling in fierce parade from both the sides. Soldiers tried to outdo each other side by marching and performing drill and impressively very high leg kicks. The parade was led by two lady officers and followed by 9 Male officers.

As the sun starts setting, the iron gates at the border are opened and the two flags are lowered simultaneously. The flags are folded and the ceremony ends with a retreat and handshake between soldiers from both sides. I could hear people humming to tunes of patriotic songs.  

The ceremony has been filmed and stored in my memory to relive for years to come. This was worth the wait and the journey amidst the riots and no service zones. 
I started towards the parking area to return back to Amritsar by the car in which I had come. I wanted to take the bus to Dalhousie which is 193 kms away from Amritsar. As he drove back, I took couple of pictures of the evening. I could see the greenery all round me. I just had seen this part of Punjab and already had fallen in love with it. People, Place and food is just awesome.